Page 36 of Meant to Be

“So I have to ask, did you use protection?”

“I’m on the pill.”

“It’s not a hundred percent effective, you know that, and if you came to see me and told me you were sexually active, I would have changed your pill. The one you take isn’t quite as strong as the others, as we were regulating your periods.”

“Oh god, she’s going to kill me.” Covering my face with my hands, I reassure her I didn’t mean to have unprotected sex. “It wasn’t planned.”

“Always the way.” She looks again, “Ah, well love, you’re right, it seems you’re pregnant Shelby.”

We run over my dates, and she books me back in for four weeks, she gives me some papers, but I haven’t looked at them. According to my dates, she thinks about four or five weeks which makes it about right or whenever that party was. I just can’t believe this has happened. I don’t remember the rest of the conversation with the doctor, I just know I’m screwed, and now I have to tell Jax.

“Do you want me to come to Jaxon’s with you?”

“No, but thanks. You better go back to school; I don’t want you to get into trouble too.” Opening my phone, I send a quick text to Jax to make sure he’s at home.

I get one straight back saying 'yes.' That’s all I get, one word. No, ‘yeah babe,’ I know he’s pissed with me.

“Jax is in,” I tell Addison, “So I'm going there, I need to explain why I’ve been AWOL for the last few days and tell him the news.”

Addy wraps me in a tight hug, “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” I sigh heavily, “I think I’ll need it.”

Going our separate ways, I head for Jaxon’s house, and Addy goes to school. School is the least of my worries at the moment.

Jaxon

That’d be right, I can’t get hold of her for days, but as soon as she wants something, she expects me to be here for her? What kind of bullshit is that? It doesn’t take a genius to know that I’ll hang around and wait because I want to know what the fuck is going on with her.

There’s a knock at the door just minutes later. I open the door to a pale and nervous Shelby. I always know when she’s nervous, she nibbles on her lip, that does nothing for my state of mind though.

“Come in,” I sigh. She sits on the couch, and I stand in front of the fireplace. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry I haven’t answered your calls and messages.”

Shrugging, I act like I don’t care.

“What’s going on Shelb? If you don’t want us to be together anymore, I’d rather you just tell me now, so we can go our separate ways.”

Taking a cigarette from my box, I light it up, taking a long drag. I don’t mean to act like a huge dick, but it’s a defence mechanism. If she walked back out that door now, it would break me. Once the nicotine hits, it settles my nerves.

“It’s not like that…”

“So, explain.”

“Oh god, I don’t know how to say this…. I know why I’ve been ill, so that’s something.”

She swipes at her eyes and looks up at me. I soften my mood towards her, I can’t be angry when I know she’s upset. I finish my cigarette and put it out in the ashtray on the table. Blowing out the smoke, I put a piece of chewing gum in my mouth; I don’t want to breathe smoke over her.

I take my place at her side and take her hand.

“What’s happened, Shelby?” Her big brown eyes look up at me making me feel like shit. “You need to tell me, babe, because I’m shit scared here.”

With a shaky sigh, she looks at me. “I’m pregnant.”

“You can’t be, you’re on the pill,” I answer shell-shocked.

This can’t be happening to me - to us.

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